Program Improvement Schools

Murrieta Valley Unified is an exemplary district according to the State of California's academic and accountability standards which are the most rigorous in the nation. The federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act/ No Child Left Behind requires all states to meet academic standards for what a child should know and be able to do in English-language arts and mathematics. Every school must improve each year until all students meet these standards. This yearly improvement in school performance is called Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).

If these criteria are not met for two years in a row, schools and districts that receive federal Title I funds are identified for Program Improvement (PI). Murrieta Valley Unified was first identified as a PI district in 2011.

High-performing schools across the state and country are finding it increasingly difficult to meet the NCLB rates of improvement and rising Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) benchmarks. By 2013/14 NCLB required 100% of students to be proficient.

AYP is based on:

California's accountability measurement of progress, the Academic Performance Index (API). With the States adoption of Common Core State Standards and implementation of Smarter Balanced Assessments, CDE is no longer assigning API scores which were last issued in 2013.

The percentage of students scoring at the proficient or advanced-level on the California Standards Tests for English-language arts and mathematics

The percentage of students participating in those tests

For high schools, the graduation rate

As a PI district the district:

Notifies all parents if their school is in P1 and what their options are and how parents can help the school and district.

Allows parents of students who attend Program Improvement schools to transfer their child, with paid transportation, to a school in the district that is not identified as a Program Improvement school.

Each PI school has an LEA Plan Addendum. Parents and school staff were consulted in the preparation of the LEA Plan Addendum, which includes information on how the school plans to use Title I and other funds to improve student achievement.

Reserve at least ten percent of our annual Title I allocation to provide professional development for teachers and administrators.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did the district fail to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)? Although our students have shown excellent growth overall, and our subgroups have also shown progress, several sub-groups did not meet the proficiency bar in English or Math. English language learners, students with disabilities, socioeconomically disadvantaged and minorities are all considered sub-groups. District-wide, about 70% of students are proficient in English Language Arts and Math. Schools and districts who miss making AYP in only one category or sub-group of students or they may miss the mark by failing one of many criteria measured and they are at risk of going into Program Improvement.

What is being done to make sure students are succeeding? The district has implemented a number of strategies to help students meet the expectations. Our administrators and Professional Learning Communities are analyzing the data for those students who are not proficient and we are providing targeted interventions for those students. We are seeing solid academic growth and improvement, yet under NCLB, the AYP targets are increasing every year, far beyond what is reasonable. By 2013-14, 100 percent of students were expected to score at the proficient level or above, a goal most educators agree is unrealistic.

Talk with district staff about the LEA Plan and the program changes that must be made to help students meet the state standards in ELA and mathematics.

Visit your child’s school and participate in voluntary activities to assist your school.

Program Improvement School Choice Transfers

Parents who are interested in transferring their child or children to a non-PI school in the district, may submit an intradistrict transfer request. For more information about non-PI schools, please contact the district at 951-696-1600, ext. 1178.